Proper 18 (23) (Year A)

Romans 13:8-14 (CEB; adapted):[1]

Don’t be in debt to anyone, except for the obligation to love each other. Whoever loves another person has fulfilled the Law. 9The commandments, Don’t commit adultery, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t desire what others have, and any other commandments, are all summed up in one word: You must love your neighbor as yourself. 10Love doesn’t do anything wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is what fulfills the Law.

11As you do all this, you know what time it is. The hour has already come for you to wake up from your sleep. Now our salvation is nearer than when we first had faith. 12The night is almost over, and the day is near. So let’s get rid of the actions that belong to the darkness and put on the weapons of light. 13Let’s behave appropriately as people who live in the day, not in partying and getting drunk, not in sleeping around and obscene behavior, not in fighting and obsession. 14Instead, dress yourself with the [King], Jesus [the] Christ, and don’t plan to indulge your selfish desires.

Other readings: Exodus 12.1-14; Psalm 149 (or Ezekiel 33.7-11; Psalm 119.33-40); Matthew 18.15-20.

Gathering Prayer:

Creator God, you have made us not in one mould, but in many: so deepen our unity in Christ that we may rejoice in our diversity. This we ask through Jesus the Christ our Redeemer, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

                                   

A lot of people have a love / hate relationship with the Apostle Paul. Some people don’t care one way or the other. Others have utter disdain for him. Personally, I’m rather fond of Paul. It’s been proven (enough for me) that some of the troubling passages ascribed to Paul were written by others and added to the text. When one compares those passages to other passages we’re fairly certain Paul wrote, one can see that they don’t really line up with Paul’s thoughts. It’s kind of the same thing when one reads biblical stories where God commands things like genecide. Those don’t line up with the God portrayed in Jesus so we can infer that they’re human understandings imposed on God’s character and being.

When I read Paul, I read letters from a man who believes completely that Jesus is the world’s true Ruler, that all other rulers are fakes, and that The Way of Jesus is the way of the New World. And if that’s true, then what does that look like in the “real world?” Paul’s letters address that question and the many other questions that arise from that New Worldview. Possibly not as forcefully as we would prefer, but that’s how I see his letters.

Anyway, I didn’t mean to get us sidetracked from our Lesson today. I just wanted to put that out there for those of us who have a complicated relationship with Paul.

I’ve had several conversations (and some arguments) about whether or not followers of Jesus should “obey the Law.” That is, should followers of Jesus follow the Ten Commandments, at the very least. Some people would argue that we should because Jesus said he didn’t come to do away with the Law but to fulfill it — 

Matthew 5.17-18 (TIB[2]; adapted): “Don’t think I’ve come to abolish the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 18The truth is, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter of the Law — not even the smallest part of a letter — will be done away with until it’s all fulfilled.”

The position goes that since “heaven and earth” are still here, that is, the physical universe, we’re to follow the Law of Moses whether one’s Jewish or not.[3]

And yet… 

Here we have St Paul telling us that Love fulfills the Law. But he’s not alone in this. Jesus also said it — 

Matthew 5.43ff (CEB; adapted): “You’ve heard that it was said, You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you 45so that you will be acting as children of your Abba in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both the [bad] and the good and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love only those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your sisters and brothers, what more are you doing? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? 48Therefore, just as your heavenly Abba is complete in showing love to everyone, so also you must be complete (and show love to everyone — jg+).

And in another place, Jesus told the disciples, “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I’ve loved you, so you also must love each other. This is how everyone will know that you’re my disciples, when you love each other” (John 13.34-35; CEB; adapted; cf. Matthew 7.15-20).

Saint Paul, then, gets his whole “Love fulfills the Law” bit directly from Jesus. And it’s not just here; Paul is really big on Love — 

Colossians 3.12-14 (CEB; adapted): Therefore, as God’s [chosen people], holy and loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13Be tolerant with each other and, if someone has a complaint against anyone, forgive each other. As the Lord forgave you, so also forgive each other. 14And over all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

Galatians 5.22-23 (CEB; adapted): But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this.

Of course, one would be remiss to note that St Paul probably wrote the greatest chapter on Love in his famous letter to the followers of The Way of Jesus in Corinth — 1 Corinthians 13. I won’t quote the whole chapter here, but just highlight a couple of passages — 

Love is patient, love is kind, it isn’t jealous, it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, it isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints, it isn’t happy with injustice, but it’s happy with the truth. Love puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things. Love never fails. … Now faith, hope, and love remain — these three things — and the greatest of these is love (vv.4-8a; 13; CEB; adapted).[4]

It seems to me, then, that the only “law” followers of The Way of Jesus are to obey is the “law of Love” (John 13.34-35).

Now we come to a passage that has baffled many people. The only reason that I can see for this bewilderment is this passage is extrapolated into our time. That is, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the countless sermons I’ve heard about “knowing the time” (verse 11; KJV[5]). It’s like this portion of the passage was written recently and mailed directly to us.

But that’s not the case at all. Saint Paul’s letter to the followers of The Way of Jesus in Rome was written in the mid-to-late 50’s CE (roughly 15 years before the fall of Jerusalem and the Temple). As I’ve stated elsewhere, the entirety of the New Testament was written with the war between the Jews and the Romans looming on the horizon. Every page is dripping with the expectation of that coming time which coincided with their understanding of Christ’s return.

This passage is no different. 

Notice that Paul stated that the hour had “already come” when he wrote the letter to those first people. “The night is almost over,” he wrote to them, “and the day is near” (verse 12a). What day is that? Why, it’s the day of Christ’s coming with salvation (verse 11). We see this quite plainly in the letter to the Hebrews, “[Christ] will appear a second time … to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him” (9.28; NIV[6]).[7]

Paul told those people following The Way of Jesus in the mid-to-late 50’s CE that their “salvation” was nearer to them than when they first believed. We do a disservice to the text when we just pretend this passage has no historic meaning to the original audience. Some people are quick to point out that Paul and the rest of the New Testament writers were wrong. “Obviously,” we’re told, “Christ didn’t return.”

Other people use that good ol’ standard, “No one knows the day nor hour of Christ’s return. Jesus said so himself” (Matthew 24.36).

Well, “obviously” no one told Paul or the other writers of the New Testament! They all taught Christ’s coming within their generation. We can’t have it both ways. We can’t hold that the Bible is “infallible” (some of us don’t) and cling to passages like this believing that they’re for our time.

It’s astonishing to me that in both views the idea is always that (in one form or fashion) the Bible is wrong. It never occurs to us that our view — either the Bible is wrong or that it’s really speaking about our time — could be the one that’s wrong. The hubris of it all is astounding. As Paul states in another place, we shouldn’t “think of [ourselves] more highly than [we] ought to think” (Romans 12.3; CEB).

I propose that we humble ourselves and go back to the basics. Place ourselves within the story and ask simple questions — “If I was with the original audience when this was said (or read) to us, what would I think? Would I think my contemporaries and I were being addressed? Or would I think what was being communicated was really about another group of people thousands of years in the future?” While the questions may be simple, the answers are anything but. The answers tend to lead to other, deeper questions like, “If Christ was speaking to the people 2000 years ago about his return to them, what does that mean for people today? What does Christ’s return mean?” These can be very scary, world-shattering questions and the answers even more so. Nevertheless, they’re important. May the Holy Spirit lead us to the truth.

~~~

In the Love of the Three in One,

Br. Jack+, LC

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[1] Scripture quotations marked (CEB) are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.

[2] Scripture quotations marked (TIB) are taken from The Inclusive Bible. Copyright © 2007 by Priests for Equality. Used by permission.

[3] At first, this seems like a sound argument. However, once we realize that Jesus wasn’t speaking about the physical creation the position falls flat. See my series New Testament Eschatology, especially Background Part 1 and Part 2.

[4] A really good exercise is to read 1 Corinthians 13 and replace “love” with “God” since God is Love (1 John 4.8).

[5] Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version. Public domain.

[6] Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

[7] See Part 3 of my series, Hebrews 10 and Ultimate Redemption.